Newport Central Catholic 14 19 23 10 67
Ludlow 6 8 16 13 43
All 'A' Classic 9th Region
Finals at Dayton
Newport Central Catholic (11-5) -- Bartels 5, Sandfoss 24, Fryer 2, Tabor 9, Stoll 18, Geisler 8.
Ludlow (14-3) -- King 1, Jones 3, Turner 5, Vohl 2, Hardin 12, Ottoway 9, Daughtery 11.
The Newport Central Catholic girls' basketball team won its third straight Ninth Region All "A" Classic championship Saturday night, beating Ludlow 66-43 at Dayton High School. It's the seventh small-school regional title overall for the Thoroughbreds, but all of their previous trips to Richmond have ended up short of the grand prize.
Junior guard Courtney Sandfoss scored a game-high 24 points. Senior guard Michelle Stoll came off the bench to score a career-high 18 points for NewCath, which improved to 11-5 with its ninth win in its last 10 games. Highlands, ranked No. 1 in the Enquirer Northern Kentucky coaches' poll, is the only team to beat the sixth-ranked Thoroughbreds during this current streak.
Sandfoss was named MVP of the tournament. Stoll and junior Mariah Tabor of NewCath were also named to the all-tournament team, as were Ludlow's Caitlin Ottaway and Ashley Daugherty.
NewCath lost in the final of the state tournament two years ago and in the quarterfinals last season. "We've made it and now we have to see how far we can go when we get down there," said Sandfoss. "I think we have a pretty good draw, but I don't know. If we keep playing hard, I think we'll do fine."
It was just the third loss in 17 games this season for Ludlow. Julie Hardin led Ludlow with 12 points, eight rebounds and nine blocked shots. Daugherty had 11 points and Ottaway scored nine points. The Panthers beat Lloyd, Newport and Dayton by an average of 25.7 points in reaching the final but ran into one of the hottest teams in the Ninth Region.
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